Mushroom Rinse Can Improve Oral Health?

According to a study performed by researchers from Italy's University of Verona, using a mouth rinse made from shiitake mushrooms can reduce plaque and gum inflammation.

The group of researchers conducted the study because an extract from mushrooms has been shown in laboratory experiments to control the growth of oral bacteria.  It turns out that mushroom extracts kill oral bacteria, and make it harder for the bacteria to stick to teeth.

Hydrogen Fluoride – Another Cause Of Coal Burning Endemic Fluorosis

A team of scientists from China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, has recently demonstrated that “hydrogen fluoride is the prior releasing form of fluorine in long-term air-exposed coal under combustion and mild heating.”  Professor Handong Liang and his team proved that it may change current understanding of the cause and prevailing mechanism of coal burning endemic fluorosis.

"The unique chemical and physical property of hydrogen fluoride may bring new insight into the pathogenic mechanism of coal burning endemic fluorosis, or even change the current understanding fundamentally," explains Prof. Liang.

Math Gives Better Attachment For Dental Crowns?

Due to the fact that dental treatment, involving crown replacements runs Swedish people dozens of millions SEK annually, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology are working on the creation of a new method for “determining exactly how to optimally prepare a tooth to place a crown on it.”  They are working to make a new method that is much cheaper and faster; while at the same time improving quality and reliability of the crown replacements.

The researchers at Chalmers, at the initiative of the company Nobel Biocare, are now planning to run clinical tests.

"With current software, you can measure the damaged tooth's dimensions by laser scanning," says Chalmers researcher Evan Shellshear.  "The software then computes the optimal shape of the ground tooth, and the output is a 3-D visualisation of it.  You also get a 3-D animation showing precise suggestions for manoeuvring the cutting tool in order to achieve the final tooth shape safely."

Fighting Tooth Decay with Probiotics

According to recent research by Indian scientists, a daily dose of "good" bacteria might help kids fight tooth decay.

The study involved 150 children, between the ages of seven and fourteen.  All of the children were randomly assigned to one of three groups.  Each participant of the study received a powder that had to be taken once a day for two weeks.

The powder given to one of the groups (the control group) did not contain any active ingredients.  The second group's powder contained two species of pro-biotics, (Lactobacillus rhamnosus, a commercially available probiotic, and Bifidobacterium, a probiotic used in the food industry) that can potentially promote good health.  The third group was given a Bacillus coagulans containing powder, which is also used as a pro-biotic.

Study Says: Teeth Crowded In Seniors

The fact that the size of our jaws decreases with age is shown in a unique research study performed by the Faculty of Dentistry at Malmö University.  Actually, this study began more than 60 years ago.  Plaster molds were made of the jaws of dental students, who were then in their twenties and the procedure was then repeated every 10 years.  Forty years after the first molds, a final round was performed.

Lars Bondemark, Professor of Orthodontics, who analyzed the material together with his colleague Maria Nilner, Professor of Clinical Bite Physiology, at the College of Dentistry, Malmö University, mentioned that they have "found that over these forty years there was less and less room for teeth in the jaw."

New study says that premature children have smaller teeth

A study from the Faculty of Odontology at Malmö University in Sweden unveiled that the size of teeth in premature children is smaller than those of children who were full term.  In recent years multiple studies of children's dental health have been published by researchers at the Faculty of Odontology in Malmö.  The research involved 80 children born before week 33 of pregnancy.

"We have examined how their teeth are developing and, among other things, we've looked at their bites.  We've also checked their need for orthodontic adjustments and found that it is greater than in the control group, children born at full term," she says.

Babies Oral Care Can Prevent Future Cavities

A recent study performed by scientists from the University of Illinois confirms the presence of bacteria associated with early childhood caries (ECC) in infant saliva.  Now there is one more reason for parents to pay more attention to the oral health of their children.

Early childhood caries is a virulent form of caries, which is more often known as tooth decay or a cavity.  In accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tooth decay is the most widespread infectious disease among U.S. children.

The Most Naturally Variable Protein Discovered

Two chemists from San Diego, have recently announced their discovery concerning "the most naturally variable protein."  Currently it is known in a bacterium that is a key player in the formation of dental plaque.  The scientists believe "the extreme variability of the protein discovered in the bacterium Treponema denticola, evolved to adhere to the hundreds of different kinds of other bacteria that inhabit people's mouths.”

They gave the name "Treponema Variable Protein," (or TvpA) to this protein they discovered.  They have arrived at the conclusion that it is a million, to a billion times more variable than the proteins playing main roles in vertebrate immune systems.

Study Says Lollipops Reduce Tooth Decay

Just a couple of days ago we informed you about a new study claiming that sugar-free lollipops containing licorice root extract reduce tooth decay causing bacteria.  Bacterias such as streptococcus mutans (or S. mutans,) which is considered to be the primary culprit in tooth decay.

We now have a bit more information to add, Martin Curzon, Editor in Chief, European Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, said that "The use of the licorice root lollipops is an ideal approach as it will stop the transfer and implantation of the bacteria that cause dental decay from mothers to their infants and toddlers.  It also has the merit of being a low cost, high impact public dental health measure."